This disclosure relates generally to partitioning faults. More particularly, this disclosure relates to diagnosing operational faults detected within a turbomachine as a module performance change, an actuator fault, or a sensor fault.
Turbomachines (e.g., gas turbine engines) are known. A typical turbomachine includes multiple modules or sections, such as a fan module, a compression module, a combustor module, a turbine module, etc. Measuring parameters of the turbomachine facilitates identifying operational faults. For example, measuring the temperature and pressures of the modules can indicate changes in the performance of the module and help in identifying faults related to module performance. Another operational fault relates to actuators of the turbomachines. As known, the actuators manipulate the positions of various components that are essential for proper operation of the turbomachinery. An example actuator fault includes an actuator that is stuck in a closed position, which can negatively affect performance of the turbomachine.
Turbomachines include sensors that measure parameters along the gas paths of the turbomachine. Example gas path measurements include the rotational speeds of turbomachine spools, the temperature of gas exhausted from the turbomachine, etc. Other sensors of the turbomachine measure parameters within subsystems of the turbomachine. Example subsystem measurements include turbine case cooling temperatures, air bleed flow, variable stator vanes measurements, etc. Still other sensors measure power conditions of the turbomachine. If the turbomachine is a gas turbine engine, some sensors may measure flight conditions. Examples of these measurements include Mach numbers, altitudes, ambient temperatures, power requirements, etc. Failure of the sensors may result in inaccurate measurements. Sensor failure is another type of operational fault.